or on the mountaintop with dynamite? This is why we settle these emotional issues in court.

We have about 5 Jewish families in our community. I know at least one member of 4 of them personally, because the library is a non-sectarian institution in a community where many of the family activities (except most sports) are sponsored by Christian organizations. The nearest Jewish school is a 45-minute drive to another county, therefore, no bus transportation. So the children in these families are students in the public schools.

I have been on the receiving end of many complaints by Jewish and other non-Christian parents (we have a couple of Muslim and maybe a dozen Hindu families here too, as well as our share of atheists and agnostics) during the two major Christian holidays. If their children are musical, they must play or sing Christian music at public school functions at mid-winter. Not just "Christmas music", but carols with distinct sectarian resonance. Coming up at the end of this month, we will have school holidays that just happen to coincide with Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. Easter is a movable feast; it's not like a structured spring break. It's predicated on religion. These parents are very unhappy with this, but they don't take it to court. The reason has nothing to do with their level of anger, but with their deep desire not to be treated as enemies by the Christians in the community who are used to having it all their own way. They have a lot to lose: acceptance, recognition, and protection, especially for the children.

Mind you, we had major public complaint by Christians when a teacher had the audacity to teach a Hindu story -- as a myth -- during a social studies unit on India, and that was considered OK.

If you measure how much people in a religious minority care about religious domination by how much they speak up, you probably don't have your ears open in the right places. People who would talk to me about this would never talk to you on the subject. Every so often, some of the people in this position get very tired of being the "good" non-Christians, the ones who represent their own tolerance to the Christian majority, the First Amendment Mascots. Then you have a group grab on to a symbol like the one on the mountain, and attach all their anger and frustration to it. Rest assured, the ones who remain silent are not all unhappy about the outcome. But you are not at their dinner tables to hear the chuckles.

The remark about fripperies was intended to hold up the funhouse mirror to some of the things you have said yourself. I got the response I expected. Thanks! ;)